John King
Fisher, rancher, outlaw, and
lawman, 5'-9" 135 lbs, was born in
CollinCounty
[northeast
of Dallas]
in 1854, the son of Joby and Lucinda
(Warren) Fisher. Just before the Civil
War the familymoved
to Florence, Williamson County
[north
of Austin].
In 1869 Fisher was accused of stealing
a horse after heborrowed
it without telling the owner. He was
arrested by a posse but reportedly
escaped with thehelp
of the horse's owner, who had decided
not to press charges. Fisher made his
way to Goliad, Texas
[north
of Corpus
Christi]
where he was arrested again, this time
for housebreaking, and sent to prison.
After being pardonedfour months later,
he moved to Dimmit County and
established a ranch on Pendencia Creek
[near
Eagle Pass and the border of Mexico,
southwest of San
Antonio].
Theregion,
known as the Nueces Strip, was a
lawless area, where cattle rustling was
the majorindustry.
Fisher, relying on both patronage and
intimidation, quickly established
himself as one ofthe
leaders of the Strip, and his ranch
became a haven for drifters, criminals,
and rustlers in theregion.

He apparently
rode with Mexican rustlers, even
killing as many as ten before emerging
as the leader of the bunch, which
sometimes amounted to as many as one
hundred. It was reported that he traded
stolen Mexican cattle for stolen Texas
cattle with the eventual president of
Mexico, Porfirio Diaz

He was an
imposing figure, once described by
Texas Ranger N. A. Jennings as wearing
anornamented
Mexican sombrero, a black Mexican
jacket embroidered with gold, a crimson
sash, andboots,
with two silver-plated, ivory-handled
revolvers swinging from his belt
[also
Bengal tiger skin
chaps].
In the section wherehe reigned, Fisher
was feared and respected. A certain
road branch bore the sign: "This is
KingFisher's
road. Take the other." Fisher
reportedly placed the sign to
distinguish between his privateroad and the
public road, but many at the time
viewed it as evidence of the extent of
Fisher'spower
and control.

In addition to
operating his ranch, Fisher was
evidently engaged in cattle rustling in
Texas and Mexico, and his escapades led
more than once to violence. He was
arrested at various times by the famous
Texas Ranger captain Leander McNelly
and his successor Lee Hall. Charged
with murder and horse and cattle theft,
he managed to avoid conviction, but his
legal ordeals took their toll, and
Fisher decided to live a quieter life.
He married in April 1876 and later
bought a ranch near Eagle Pass.

At some point
during this period, he owned the Sunset
Saloon.

In 1881 he was
appointed deputy sheriff of Uvalde
County. He became acting sheriff in
1883 after the sheriff was indicted. He
turned out to be an efficient and
popular lawman and made plans to run
for the office in 1884. But on the
night of March 11, 1884, in the
Vaudeville Variety Theater in San
Antonio, Fisher and his companion,
noted gunman Ben
Thompson,
were involved in a shootout brought on
by a quarrel between Thompson and the
theater's owners. Both Fisher and
Thompson were killed in the melee.

April
1877
He was arrested by the same Texas
Ranger, John Barclay Armstrong,
who tracked down a captured
John
Wesley
Hardin
in Pensacola, Florida.age
22-23

1877
He bragged that no one would
testify against him or his guys.
Having been charged for at least
6 murders and 2 horse thefts, he
was cleared on all counts by
1881.
age 22-23

1879
He accidentally shot himself in
the
leg
age 24-25

1881
He was appointed deputy sheriff
of Uvalde
County
age 26-27

1883
He became acting sheriff of
Uvalde County after the sheriff
was indicted.age
28-29

1883
He tracked two suspects in a
stagecoach robbery. Upon catching
up with them, he shot one and
recovered the loot from the
other.
age 28-29

March
11,
1884
He and Ben
Thompson
were involved in a shootout in a
theater in San Antonio having to
do with a dispute between
Thompson and the theater
owners.
Both were killed. King Fisher had
13 bullets in his body.age
30